The Cabin
by marap
Summary: 'Sam was pleased to see a new couch. The old one had made an incredibly uncomfortable bed. Not that he'd be needing it this time, anyway.' Sam/Andy, set in season five.
1. Chapter One

AN: On Twitter, Stacey aka stacey79/snapple79 suggested to Tassie that, next season, Sam and Andy are back together and spend the weekend at Oliver's cabin. This got me inspired and though she herself was already writing a fic based on this, Stacey kindly gave me the go ahead to do so as well. This is the result. It will probably be a few chapters long. I didn't spent long obsessing over this chapter like I usually do, simply because I fear I'd still be doing so. Also, I was keen to get this posted and help combat the Nick/Andy epidemic that seems to be spreading to include large numbers of fanfiction. Anyway, thanks Stacey for the inspiration and if you haven't read her fic yet – make sure you do! It's awesome. I think we took the idea in relatively different directions, but if things seem similar, it is accidental. Hope you guys like it and please review! x

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

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**I:**

'This is amazing.' Andy said with sincerity once they had stepped inside.

Sam looked around the room. He had to admit, he was pleasantly surprised by what he found. Oliver had not been exaggerating the amount of work he'd done on the cabin. The wood floors had been polished, the brick wall painted, the timber of the other walls given some love and attention. Surfaces were dust free and a few new pieces of furniture had been added. Sam was pleased to see a new couch. The old one had made an incredibly uncomfortable bed.

Not that he'd be needing it this time, anyway.

That alone would have brought a smile to his face had one not already been planted there. It had been there all day. Noelle had noticed and given him hell. He hadn't cared.

A weekend alone with the girl of his dreams.

More importantly - of his reality.

'Okay, so this place did not look like this last time I was here,' Sam said. 'Ollie's been busy.'

'Celery, too,' Andy replied, picking up a couple of witchy-looking crystals from where they sat on top of an equally witchy-looking pile of books.

'Proof of love, McNally. She's got him wrapped around her finger.'

'Under her spell, you mean?' Andy replied with dorky satisfaction, picking up the book on the top of the pile and turning it so he could read the title. _Everyday Magic: Spells and Rituals for Modern Living_. Andy watched his eyes squint in skepticism as he took in the words.

'No such thing as spells, McNally,' Sam said, letting Andy's duffle bag fall from his shoulder and putting it down next to the new and improved couch. A chunky blanket was draped over the back of the couch. _That'll come in handy_, he thought.

'Oh,' Andy began. 'You mean I couldn't get her to cast a spell to make you less cynical?' she teased.

'Nope,' he said, letting his bag drop just next to hers with a soft thump. His lips pressed together and a dimpled grin made a welcomed appearance. 'Gonna make do with me anyway?' Sam challenged, moving closer to her. Andy looked at him. The lingering grin teamed with his leather jacket and slight scruff? She was pretty sure her heart was melting out of her chest.

She shook that feeling off, not willing to let him win a playful teasing session. And certainly not through effortless charm or suavity. She shrugged, hair tossed from her shoulder with the movement. 'Yeah, I think I can manage,' she said, as if it were a noble sacrifice.

Sam's tongue pressed into his cheek as he scoffed and came to a stop mere inches from her.

'Big of you.' The words left his lips just before they pressed against hers.

Andy giggled into the warmth of the kiss.

His nose brushed hers as they parted. 'With a bit of luck, Ollie's left us some firewood.'

'What do you think the chances are?' Andy asked with a laugh as Sam moved toward the basket next to the fireplace. He bent over and Andy became distracted.

'Ohh, I'd say not good,' Sam said, straightening.

She barely heard him, but the sound and his movement brought her back to the issue at hand. 'What?'

Sam turned to her and handed her a note written on a scrappy bit of paper in Oliver's distinctive, and even more scrappy handwriting.

Andy read it aloud. '_Clean sheets are on the bed. Figured I'd leave you to get the firewood. Just making sure you actually spend some time outside… Have fun kids. Just not too much. Oliver._'

'Oh my god.' Andy wavered between amused and horrified.

'Wonder how long it took him to think of that,' Sam said, taking the note from her and tossing it carelessly to the side. It caught the air and travelled slowly on it's journey to the ground.

'Probably not long,' Andy replied matter-of-factly. 'He's probably pulling from his own experience.'

Sam groaned, eyes squeezing shut as if in physical pain. 'McNally, that is the last thing I want to think about,' he opened his eyes, a look of disgust on his face. '_Ever_.'

Andy grinned at his displeasure. She couldn't help it. 'What?' she questioned. 'You think the candles and fur rug are just here for us?'

'I didn't invite anyone else,' he grinned, proud of his quick reply. His hands tugged the front of her jacket, pulling her closer.

'You know what I mean,' Andy said as she tipped her head to one side and jutted out her chin ever so slightly. Her hands came to rest on the leather of his jacket.

'I do,' he admitted. 'But in response to your question, yes, I choose to think he put them here for us and that he has never been inside this cabin without pants on.'

Andy quickly lifted and dropped her shoulders as if shaking off the thought. 'That's just even more creepy.'

'You're telling me.'

'No,' Andy laughed. 'The idea of Oliver making the place romantic specially for us. That's disturbing.'

'This conversation is disturbing.'

'Agreed,' she replied quickly.

'So,' Sam began, feeling the cold of the cabin against the warmth of McNally. 'Firewood?'

'Piggy back?' She rose a brow as if a cute act would convince him.

'No way in hell, McNally,' he said, quickly kissing her pout away.

It reappeared just as quickly. 'I only have Ugg boots on.'

'You look fully dressed to me. Sadly.'

'Ha, ha.' she replied with a teasing eye roll.

Sam released her and hauled her duffle bag onto the couch and began rifling through it in search of her proper boots. They were new, her old pair having worn though at the heel. Andy had refused to wear the new boots for the car trip that afternoon, insisting they weren't yet comfortable as they needed to be worn in. The fact that she was avoiding wearing them in, Sam had pointed out, meant they'd remain uncomfortable until she chose to suck it up. Andy had not been impressed by his logic.

Rifling through her bag, Sam found that other than two pairs of shoes - boots and Uggs - she had packed light, true to form. She wasn't a high maintenance kind of girl.

But lightly did not necessarily mean neatly.

Sam hauled out a thick Navajo print cardigan and discovered it was co-mingling with a black bra, somehow caught up in it.

He tried not to be distracted_. Task at hand, Sammy. There's time for that later._

'All those years of camping and you're still a messy packer, McNally.'

'It's a duffle bag. It's impossible to be neat' she said sitting down on the couch and watching him continue his search. 'Like yours is any neater.'

'I'll bet you.'

'A piggy back?'

'In your dreams, McNally.' His words were underscored by the clank of new boots as he pulled them from the bag and dumped them on the floor, victorious.

Andy groaned. Sam chuckled.

Perhaps even low-maintenance girls had moments where they wavered.

x x x

Andy's uncomfortable feet carried her alongside Sam through the woods surrounding the cabin. A cozy hat was tugged down over her ears and gloves, which she'd only remembered to pack at the last minute, covered her hands. Her arms balanced a precarious load of firewood, the load so tall it was not far from reaching her chin.

'You're gonna hurt yourself, McNally,' Sam said from his position beside her.

'I'm a cop, Sam.' It was cold enough for her breath to be visible in the late afternoon sun.

'Doesn't mean you can carry ten bits of wood at once,' Sam replied, his breath visible too.

'Well, if you're not gonna carry me and save my feet, I may as well make myself useful.'

'You'd really want me to try and carry you, firewood and an axe at the same time?' he challenged with wide eyes and raised brows, chin dropped as if daring her to answer with the affirmative.

'Okay, fair point,' she admitted, speaking in a rush as if not wanting to linger on the fact that Sam was right.

Sam chuckled. He carried an impressive amount of wood in just one arm - holding the axe in his other hand. The daylight was fading.

'Okay,' he said, looking at her pile of wood and then his own. 'We're good to go.'

'You know we probably have way more than we'll need,' she said as she realised this.

'You can dump some of that load, then.' Sam nodded towards her arms.

'You get rid of some of yours,' she countered. She wasn't going to let him win this non-competition.

'And look like a weakling? No thanks. Got a reputation to uphold, McNally.'

She scoffed. 'Well at least there will be extra for when Oliver's next here.'

'You kidding?' Sam asked with a glance toward her and raised brows. 'He made us get our own, he can get his.'

Andy rolled her eyes. 'Sam,' she said with a half-laugh half-groan. 'That's kind of pathetic.' Her words were spoken half-heartedly.

'Nope, it's fair,' he said.

She nearly stumbled as her foot hit a rock. It was hard to walk on uneven ground with arms so heavily loaded she could barely see the ground.

'Careful,' Sam said, almost dropping his own load in order to reach a hand out to steady her.

'I'm fine,' she said, picking up the pace as if to prove it. 'I'm the one who has done this before, remember?' she said. 'Though I have to say, considering your whole "city boy" thing, you're not bad with an axe.'

'Figured chopping my toes off would probably ruin the weekend.'

'Ew,' Andy said, wincing at the thought.

'Ouch, more like.'

'Yeah,' Andy added quickly. 'That too.'

'Good to know you care, McNally.'

She giggled and flicked her head to toss a lock of hair away from her mouth. She stopped suddenly, looking at Sam.

'But at least then my feet wouldn't be the only ones in pain,' she teased, shooting him a cheeky grin and raised eyebrow before striding off ahead of him, sore feet and all.

Sam scoffed. 'Or not,' he amended, trailing after her.


	2. Chapter Two

AN: Thanks for all the reviews and support! I am so happy you guys liked it and I apologise for the delay in posting the second chapter. This was a tricky chapter to write, but I hope you like it! Don't forget to leave me a review, it is much appreciated! x

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**II.**

Andy lay back on the couch, her head and shoulders propped up against the arm with a couple of cushions. They were extra poufy with newness, as if they'd never had any weight on them before. Her eyes closed in contentment.

Sam sat further down the sofa, his strong hands rubbing her bare feet. His hands were warm against her skin, having held them by the fire before taking her feet in his lap and working the soreness from them. Andy hadn't even asked for the special attention. She'd been surprised, considering his seeming lack of sympathy towards her new boot plight, just a few hours prior. Yet somehow, that only made it mean even more.

'I think you missed your calling,' she said, sighing happily.

Sam laughed.

'Well, if all else fails,' he said, jokingly.

'You'd devote yourself to being my personal foot masseuse?' She opened her eyes and looked at him, raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

'Depends on the employee benefits,' he teased with a grin, dimples hard at work.

'Sam!' Andy exclaimed, pulling her foot back from his grasp and shoving it into his stomach.

Sam made an 'oomph' sound. The shove was hardly full-strength, but still took some air out of him. 'Ow,' he said flatly a second later in a delayed reaction.

'You deserved it,' she said with a giggle, giving away that she amused more than anything.

'Hey, I was just talking about insurance and holiday pay,' Sam defended, hands raised as if unarmed and approaching a suspect.

Andy rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, right.'

'You want me to continue or not?' he teased, nodding to her foot as his hands resumed their hold and waited.

'You'd better,' she said with a smile.

'Or...' he prompted.

'Or else I may not forgive you for that comment,' she said with put-on defiance.

'Ohh,' Sam said. 'Right.'

The fire crackled as Sam's hands continued their gentle assault of Andy's sore feet. Between the two of them - her more than him - they'd done an impressive job of getting the fire raging. She tipped her head back and looked around the room.

'Isn't this place too big to be considered a cabin?' she said, out of the blue.

Sam smiled. She often surprised him with her offhand comments. 'I don't think there's a rule, McNally,' he said.

'I guess,' she said, looking to the right, her gaze dancing across old windows. 'I don't know, it's just a lot bigger than Luke-' she stopped herself.

Sam's hands worked against Andy's heel and ankle. His grip was still gentle, but firmer than it had been moments earlier.

She sat up, her right leg bending at the knee, while the left stayed stretched across his lap.

'Sam,' she said as her strong shoulders slumped. She waved her hands as she spoke. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- I wasn't even thinking. It's just that this place is better than I imagined, not that it'd matter if it wasn't, I am just happy to be here with you. I just wasn't expecting somewhere as big as this. I mean, can Oliver even afford-'

Her words accelerated like a boulder down a hill. He couldn't take it any longer. 'Andy,' he stopped her, his voice soft yet commanding.

'Yeah?' She met his warm eyes.

'It's okay.'

'It is?' her voice was unsure, her eyes even more so.

'We all have a past, McNally,' Sam said. 'I may not like remembering you with Callaghan, but I'm not gonna blow my top if you mention him.'

She couldn't help but feel a little surprised. In a good way, of course. 'Okay,' she said. 'Thank you.'

'You don't need to thank me, McNally,' he said with a light laugh.

'Not for that. Well kind of, but I mean, thank you for telling me that,' she said.

'Telling you what?'

'How you feel, what you're thinking.'

Ah, that. That'd been a problem, before.

'I'm working on it,' he said with a tight smile.

She smiled back at him and leant forward to thank him with a kiss.

She hadn't expected Sam to handle her Luke-mention as well as he did. Not that she had expected him to be angry, either, but she had definitely expected a shift in his mood. Apart from the firmer hold on her foot, he'd kept an even keel.

His hold loosened as she settled back against the cushions, nerves at ease. He rubbed the soft skin between her big two and the next one. Her eyes closed, but opened when he spoke a moment later.

'But if Nick had a cabin too, I could do without any stories.'

The look in his eye told her he was only teasing.

She shook her head and laughed. 'Okay,' she said. 'Don't worry. No cabin as far as I know of. Certainly no cabin that I ever went to.' Most people would have stopped there, perhaps. But this was _McNall_y. 'I mean, we never even spent a whole night together,' she added.

It was a throwaway example of just how far from romantic getaways her relationship with Nick had been. But Sam's brows raised and light from the fire flickered across the planes of his face.

'Oh, god, you didn't need to know that. Or want to know that,' she said, her face in her hands. This time, she slid even further into the pillows, her bottom sliding forward to allow her to sink down, seemingly trying to hide like a wombat in a burrow. 'I just made this worse, didn't I?'

_Really on a roll with stupid comments tonight, _she thought to herself, silently cursing.

'Why not?' Sam asked gently, seemingly disregarding her backpedalling.

Her legs had bent and her feet had left his lap, toes tucked in the break between couch cushions. A second and more literal backpedalling, it seemed.

'What?' Her hands fell and she peered up at him over her knees. He would have laughed at the sight, had he not wanted a serious reply.

'Why did you,' he swallowed, then tried again. 'Why did you and Collins never spend a full night together?'

'Oh. I don't know,' she stopped in thought. 'We just never did I guess. I really thought about it until now.'

Sam nodded and fell silent. Andy watched the firelight dance across his torso, brightening the strip of maroon t-shirt visible beneath his jacket.

'His loss,' Sam said a moment later, soft smile and gentle eyes.

Andy sat up, confident that maybe she hadn't ruined their first night together at the cabin. Oliver's cabin was now THE cabin, she decided. Luke's didn't matter anymore.

She turned to lean into Sam, her back against his side. His arm draped around her, natural and instinctive.

'It wasn't serious. Me and Nick,' she said. She felt Sam swallow, the gentle rumble against her back. Before he felt he had to say anything, she spoke further. 'And I didn't want it to be.'

The most important part.

She tilted her head back to look up at the man behind her.

Sam looked her in the eye. He swallowed again, but did not speak. Instead, he brought his face closer to hers, then placed a lingering kiss on her lips.

She smiled, then turned her head back, the back of her head resting against his chest.

'Andy,' he began, just when she thought he wasn't going to say anything. 'Me and Marlo-'

She hadn't anticipated this. Perhaps she should have, being that Sam was trying to be more open. But she hadn't. She hadn't spoken about her recent ex in an attempt to get him to speak about _his_. Though that did sound like a strategy that _Cosmopolitan_ would swear by.

They'd be right, apparently.

She shook her head. 'I know it was different for you,' she said. 'You guys _were_ serious.'

She wasn't even sure she wanted to hear what he had to say, let alone deliberately prompt it.

'Hey,' Sam said, pushing a lock of hair from her eye and beckoning her to turn back to face him. She did. Only then, did he speak. 'She was never going to be _it_. She was never going to be forever.'

x x x

Later, Andy lay in bed, bare in Sam's embrace. A quilt was tucked up under her chin, but it was Sam that gave her the greatest warmth.

'You cold?' Sam asked.

'No,' she said. 'You?'

'I'm good, McNally,' he said with a smile that she felt as he pressed his face into her neck. He pulled back to kiss her shoulder.

As they lay there, a peaceful silence fell over them. Minutes passed before Sam sensed Andy's mind start whirring like machinery groaning into action.

'What's wrong?' he asked, feeling the slight tension in her body. Her form - and mind - had been beautifully relaxed moments earlier, he knew.

'Why?' she started. 'Why do you think something's wrong?'

'You're tense, McNally,' he said. 'So either I didn't do my job properly...'

'Your job? Oh so you're that kind of masseuse,' she teased cheekily.

He chuckled. 'Nice.'

'Set yourself up for that one.'

Sam grumbled a sound of agreement. Then, 'Andy. Tell me,' he said simply, a request more than a demand.

Andy let out a breath and traced a hand over her back as if to encourage her, she rolled over to face him, the quilt slipping to their waists. The sheet underneath tightened, caught underneath her body as she shifted, the tightness creating an elevated bridge across their bodies. Sam, to his credit, stayed focused on her eyes, not the bare skin of her chest that became visible as the sheet lifted from its drape across her.

'I want to tell you something,' she admitted. 'But it might be putting my foot in my mouth again.'

Sam looked at her, unsure and confused. His lips parted, as if about to speak.

Andy beat him to it.

_No surprises there._

'Yeah yeah, thinking before I speak. It's a first, I know,' she admitted, a hand waving in front of her face before tucking unruly, Sam-messed locks of hair behind her ear.

'I'm trying, _too_,' she added, a shoulder raising and dropping in a semi-shrug. Her words were spoken simply, matter of fact, even. No whininess, no fishing for praise.

Sam shifted closer and lifted his body over hers, arms supporting him above her so as not to stifle her, physically or emotionally.

Now it was her turn not to be distracted, cherished under the skin and muscle of the man she loved.

'I wasn't going to say that,' he said

She raised a brow.

'Well what were you going to say?'

'I was going to say...' he began, the tip of his nose lowering to touch hers. 'That you can tell me. Foot in your mouth or not.'

'Might be hard to speak with my foot in my mouth,' she joked with a scoff and eyes dancing away from his in nervousness.

'McNally...' he prompted, nose brushing against hers in a familiar, sacred dance.

'Okay, so this is probably a really stupid time to say this, especially now with all this build up, but after I brought up Luke's cabin earlier,' she spoke in a rush, barely taking a breath. 'Well, that trip to his cabin after I came back to work after the shooting, after you and me... you know, the blackout?'

'I do know, McNally,' he said, amused but unsure where this was going and a tad apprehensive.

'Right, yeah,' she said, feeling foolish. 'Well that weekend at his cabin... I didn't sleep with him. I couldn't.'

Sam face wore an inquisitive yet soft expression.

'I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I just wanted you to know. After what had just happened with us, I couldn't... be like that with him.'

Sam kissed her forehead, her cheek, then her lips. Once, twice, three times.

'Sam-' she managed to get out. 'What are you thinking?'

Sam brushed his nose across hers.

'I'm thinking that if I'd known what wasn't happening, I might have slept better those nights you were away,' he said with a smile. It was true.

'Sam-' she wasn't sure he was serious. To think that he was? That made her heart hurt and feel beautifully full, all at the same time.

He looked at the brown eyes he'd never tire of seeing. 'And I'm thinking that I love you.'

Andy smiled as his nose brushed hers once again.

Not fully convinced, however, she spoke. 'So you're glad I told you?'

He smiled. 'Yes, McNally. I'm glad you told me.'

He kissed her deeply.

'Really glad,' he said, pulling the sheet over their heads.


End file.
